The preparation of polyols from epoxides is well-known. There is a review of catalysts generally employed for the preparation of polyols from epoxides in "Organic Polymer Chemistry", 2nd ed. Chapman and Hall, New York: 1988, pp. 182-186. The catalysts are usually alkali metal hydroxides, alkaline earth carbonates and oxides, aluminum and zinc alkyls and alkoxides. It is generally thought that polymerization occurs through a coordinated anionic mechanism, in which the ethylene oxide is coordinated to the initiator through an unshared electron pair on the oxirane oxygen atom.
A recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,485, to Behler et al., gives a short summary of fatty alcohol alkoxylation catalysts, including calcium and strontium hydroxides, alkoxides and phenoxides, calcium alkoxides and barium hydroxides and basic magnesium compounds. Others include magnesium and calcium fatty acid salts. This patent discloses the use of alkaline earth metal salts of ether carboxylic acids as catalysts for the ethoxylation or propoxylation of organic compounds containing active H atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,905 to Strege describes the hydroxyalkylation of phenols and ethylene carbonates over alkalai metal halides to produce (aryloxy)ethanols. Strege describes an improvement wherein the reaction is conducted without addition of strong acid or base using as the catalyst an inorganic halide salt.
With most of the catalysts used in the art to alkoxylate alcohols, removal of the catalyst is difficult. It would be a distinct advance in the art if an alkoxylation catalyst were available which allowed for good yield of polyols and at the same time allowed for an efficient means of removal of the catalyst from the reactor.
KF on alumina catalysts have been used for aldol condensations and Michael additions of nitroalkanes to .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The preparation of these catalysts is described by Bergbreiter, D. E. in J. Org. Chem., 1987, 52, 1601-1603.
There is nothing in the art which would indicate the usefulness of a supported potassium or cesium fluoride supported on an alkaline earth metal oxide for alkoxylation of long-chain alcohols. It has now been discovered that a supported heterogeneous catalyst comprising a fluoride of Group I and an oxide of Groups IIA or IIIA can be employed for the preparation of polyether alcohols by alkoxylation and is much easier to remove from the reactor than conventional catalysts. Polyether alcohols find a wide variety of uses, including in polyurethanes and surfactants.